STRATFORD -- Jessica Portillo was 15 years old when she landed her first job shampooing hair in a Barnum Avenue salon.

"I loved it," said the lifelong Stratford resident, now 29. "I never questioned it or thought of doing anything else."

Portillo graduated from high school with a hair-styling license and, in 2002, opened a shop on East Main Street in Bridgeport. For seven years, Hector's Hair Salon, which she co-owned with Jose De Jesus, was a launch pad for fledgling stylists.

The 500 square-foot shop, which De Jesus described as a "closet," had six stations staffed by Portillo and five young stylists: Latisha Mendenhall, Yvette Portillo, Yvonne Portillo, Elba Alicea and Tiffany Neismith.

"I take their futures very seriously," she said. "No. 1 here is we are a team. That's something you don't learn in the classroom, but it's just as important as doing hair. Everything I do, they can do.."

In 2008, the recession began to take clients out of Hector's salon chairs. Instead of letting the economy make split ends of their livelihood, the owners and stylists took a gamble, closing Hector's to chase Portillo's dream of opening a larger salon and hair academy in Stratford.

"Everyone told us not to do it because of the economy," De Jesus said. "But we decided that was the reason why we should ."

They opened Salon 210 Academy of Hairdressing a year ago at 210 Boston Ave, formerly a boarded-up billiards shop covered in graffiti. De Jesus, who renovated the one-story structure himself, said business is growing.

The new salon is equipped with 16 stations for styling, manicures and pedicures, and is preparing to open a school for aspiring hair stylists and makeup artists. The first 1,500-hour course is set to begin in September. The classroom component will take place in an office building down the road from Salon 210.

De Jesus and Portillo hope to enroll 15 in the inaugural class and plan to hire the most talented students at the salon.

"A lot of young girls come in here to get their hair done and they're taken by not just the opportunity to grow a career here, it's the opportunity to be a part of this family," De Jesus said. "Now we have a place for them."